Preferred Citation

Historical Note

Josiah Spooner Swift was born in 1813 in Wareham, Massachusetts. His family purchased a farm in Harpswell (Maine) in 1823. In 1838, Spooner moved to Madrid and in 1840 he settled in Farmington, Maine.

Spooner was an active Freewill Baptist minister, an amateur artist, and publisher. He established and published The Franklin Register (later the Chronicle). He was a successful orchardist and nurseryman, contributing articles on fruit culture to a variety of periodicals. In The History of Farmington he is characterized as "the father of journalism in Franklin County."

He retired from publishing in 1867, but returned to this endeavor shortly before his death in 1883.

Scope and Content Note

The collection is comprised of two of Spooner's journals and six sketchbooks, as well as a variety of other papers and documents including three issues of the Banner published in Harpswell, ME. The sketchbooks contain watercolors, including a number of identified and unidentified Maine towns and scenes along the Androscoggin River. An account of climbing Saddleback Mountain, contained in Spooner's diary, was published in 1945. The collection includes documents regarding this publication.

Administrative Information

Publication Information

Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library

70 Campus AvenueLewiston, Maine, 04240207-786-6354muskie@bates.edu

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

The collection is the physical property of Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library. Bates College holds literary rights only for material created by College personnel working on official behalf of the College, or for material which was given to the College with such rights specifically assigned. For all other material, literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for obtaining permission from rights holders for publication or other purposes that exceed fair use.

Acquisition and Custody Information

No provenance information available.
Accession No.: xx-033.

Processing Information

Processed by Caron Pelletier, 1999.

Final arrangement and description by Kurt Kuss, Special Collections Librarian, 1999.